


Potter and Snape one-shots

by Arbelly



Series: The days of Severitis [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxiety, Gen, Good Severus Snape, Mentor Severus Snape, Severitus | Severus Snape is Harry Potter's Parent, Severus Snape Adopts Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29768253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbelly/pseuds/Arbelly
Summary: A collection of one-shots, semi-continuous, pretty much just self-indulgent babble.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Severus Snape
Series: The days of Severitis [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187816
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Potter and Snape one-shots

Harry looked around in awe at the dark oak furniture, at the bed piled with different sized pillows, the duvet may have been the fluffiest he had ever seen. The neutral tones worked in perfect harmony with the warm wood yet stood in stark contrast to the cold foreboding walls of the dungeon. The warm glow of candle light caught his eye as he took in the desk it sat upon and the shelves above it that reached up to the high ceiling.  
‘Of course, we can change anything you like.’ Snape assured from where he stood in the doorway.

‘No, it’s great.’ Harry replied absentmindedly as he reached out to touch one of the larger pillows. He turned and sat on the bed, it felt as comfortable as it looked. ‘This is where I get to stay?’ Harry asked in disbelief, looking up at his professor.

‘It’s all yours.’ Snape explained for what felt like the hundredth time. He kept his patience; he knew that the boy's inability to process what was happening stemmed from the neglect he had grown so used to. He walked into the room, and pulled the chair from under the desk, positioning it so he sat facing Harry. ‘We will stay here over the Christmas break, it will be more convenient than preparing the house for such a short stay, you will see it when we go there over the summer. You have been keyed into the wards around these quarters, you may come and go as you please, you can consider it your home now. Do you have any questions?’

‘Yeah, so what happens now? Like as in, will people know about this arrangement or is it a secret or….’ Harry questioned.

‘What would you like?’

‘Um, maybe we could just keep it from the other students for now. I just don’t really want… you know.’ Harry struggled to find the right words.

‘I understand, it will appear as though nothing has changed.’ Snape saved Harry the trouble, he knew what he was trying to say, and he could see no need for the other students to know.

‘I should get back to the dormitory, it’s nearly curfew.’ Harry said, standing. Snape nodded his approval and Harry followed him out of the bedroom. His bedroom. He took another look back at it, ‘it’s really great.’ He smiled.

Severus was pleased that Harry was happy with his room, he was sure he was more nervous about the new arrangement than the young gryffindor, but he refused to let his composed manner slip. What Harry needed was consistent and reliable leadership, someone to be firm yet fair. Severus recalled someone once telling him to be the person he needed when he was a child, and what he had needed was rules and predictability … and someone to care. He walked Harry to the door leading out into the corridor, holding it open wide for him. ‘I’ll see you in class tomorrow.’   
‘Ah, yeah. See you … in class.’ Harry said awkwardly as he left the quarters, giving a small shy wave as he turned down the corridor. Harry knew this was going to take some adjusting. 

Both Harry and Snape were able to keep up appearances, especially during class, where Snape would show no mercy while berating Harry and the other students for their mindless mistakes. Before long the students were packing their things to return home for Christmas, given the fact that the dementors were still stalking the school grounds, it had been organised for the students to floo home. As the departures were staggered throughout the day, it made it easy to hide the fact that Harry would not be leaving the castle. Harry bid farewell to Hermione and then soon after he saw the Weasley’s leave, the sun was still high in the sky as the last of the students disappeared into the green flames. Harry took his time, walking the empty halls, trying to quell his unease. Slowly he packed a few of his things and sent them off with the house elf that showed up to transport his belongings to the dungeons. Harry walked down from the dormitory and into the dead silence of the common room, stopping to sit on the edge of a couch. He looked around and tried to calm his breathing. He could feel the familiar panic rising in his chest, the feeling of doom settling over him. Quickly he stood and shook his entire body, he shook his arms and made a pushing motion from his chest, physically pushing and willing the feeling away. He very literally shook it off, he refused to let himself fall into that hole again. Redirecting his mind from thoughts of loneliness, he tried to focus on the fact that he had the entire castle to himself, plus he had Snape and this would be a good time for them to get better acquainted as ward and guardian. Climbing back up the stairs to his dormitory, Harry rummaged around and found a pen and some paper. While the school favoured quills, ink and parchment, Harry had thrown in some pens and a notepad before he left Privet drive at the start of the school year. It was just a little more convenient at times. Leaning the paper on his bedside table he wrote down some goals for the coming two weeks, things to focus on while he remained here. 

\- Organise school work / books   
\- Finish assigned homework  
\- Read ahead in every class  
\- Tend to broomstick  
\- tbc

He was sure there was more to do, he thought for a moment before deciding to fold it up into his pocket and just keep it as a running list. Feeling more centred and focussed, Harry decided to head down to the dungeons. 

Night had begun to fall quickly and Harry now found himself drinking tea in front of the fire place in Snapes … their quarters. Snape sat nearby reading a book and Harry was surprised to find the entire situation very comfortable. He sat back in the large armchair, sighing contentedly and closing his eyes. He and Snape had dined in their quarters, he had learnt that most of the teachers would remain at Hogwarts over this time and that he was free to bother them all he liked, however he was not to venture out of the castle alone. He had asked Snape about the dementors, the soul sucking terrors that guarded the wizarding prison, he didn’t get much more than that from the man before feeling like it wasn't a welcome line of questioning. Not wanting Snape to change his mind and send him away he had quickly redirected the conversation, if he were being honest with himself, he was too scared to hear anymore about the dementors anyway. 

‘Would you like to watch a movie?’ 

Harry snapped his eyes open, startled from his thoughts. ‘What?’ 

Snape rolled his eyes at Harry’s lack of manners. ‘I asked if you would like to watch a movie?’ 

‘Like a movie, a muggle movie, how? On what?’ Harry asked confused. 

Snape sighed and stood, opening a discrete panel on one of the bookcases lining the walls. There inside the compartment was a television, just a normal television. Harry started in shock, ‘b-but how?’ he stuttered with a smile. 

‘It wasn’t complicated, but it has been magically meddled with to get it functioning here.’ Snape didn’t go into more detail. Harry watched as with a wave of his wand Snape brought the TV to life, pictures filled the screen. ‘Any preference?’ Snape drawled. 

‘This is good.’ Harry suggested, smiling as he watched the beginnings of a movie unfold. 

The movie turned out to be called Edward Scissorhands, and Harry enjoyed it very much. Snape had resumed reading his book but Harry noticed him become entranced by the movie several times. Snape assured him that the entire premise of the movie was ridiculous and he didn’t know how anyone could enjoy that rubbish. 

Harry had enjoyed a lovely evening and was feeling very good about the new arrangement with Snape. His outlook changed late that night when he found himself wide awake in a dark unfamiliar room. He shivered slightly under the thick duvet, the stone walls seeming to drain any warmth from the room, no moonlight could penetrate the dark windows, leaving Harry in a darkness he could only liken to the cupboard under the stairs. Remembering the candle sat on the desk, Harry stuck his legs out into the sharp cold of the room, fumbling as he reached forward unseeing to find the edge of the desk. It seemed to take him an age to finally illuminate the room with the soft glow of the flame. While this made him feel momentarily better, as he settled himself back into his bed, the flickering shadows around the room began to fill his mind with unwanted thoughts of dementors and other frightful beings. His mind conjured scenarios of sitting up to see his uncle standing in the corner, the man full of rage, shouting accusations of lies and deceit. At some point his conscious and unconscious mind mingled to produce a sort of horrid dream loop that he couldn’t break out of. Harry woke the next morning completely exhausted, guilt weighing heavily in his stomach. It took him a moment to understand why he felt so terrible, then he recalled his dreams, his relatives telling him what his lies had done to them, convincing him that he exaggerated the situation just because they didn’t spoil him as much as their own son, all just to get what he wanted, a non-muggle family. Harry tried hard to convince himself that it wasn’t the truth and wasn’t more than just a meaningless dream, however it did little to ease his guilt. 

Severus looked over his paper at Harry, who had been sitting there moving his breakfast around his plate for 20 minutes now. ‘Something wrong with your food?’ He asked, returning his eyes to the newspaper. 

‘No.’ Harry exclaimed in alarm, unaware he was being watched. ‘No, it’s good.’ He continued more calmly. As if to prove his point Harry took some enthusiastic mouthfuls of his eggs. 

Severus could tell there was something off but wasn’t sure how hard to push after his first night. ‘How did you sleep?’ He asked with a feigned air of disinterest. 

‘Good, thank you.’ Harry sipped his juice. 

Harry’s politeness put Severus slightly on edge, he knew what respect looked like coming from the boy and he could tell this was different, this was forced with a slight air of fear and desperation. Even if Harry didn’t realise it himself, Severus knew he was falling into the habits he had formed from life with his relatives. Harry didn’t come out of his room until Severus had finally summoned him, he had made himself discrete, bordering invisible. Severus hadn’t heard a genuine word from him all morning, nothing more than the sweet mutterings a child might offer a friend's parents. He knew that Harry needed time to settle in, but he couldn’t help feeling this was a habit that shouldn’t be brought into this new arrangement. Already feeling out of his depth, Severus decided to think on it before taking any action. 

Clearly giving up on trying to eat his food, Harry stood, collecting the breakfast dishes and taking them through to the kitchen. Severus watched him curiously. ‘The house elves will do that.’ He called as Harry began to wash the dishes. He regretted it quickly, as Harry stopped awkwardly and looked around the room, appearing a little lost with himself. ‘Although … I suppose this would be faster.’ Severus casually added, carrying his empty tea cup to the sink and grabbing a towel to help dry. They both worked in a surprisingly comfortable silence until the mess from breakfast was cleared. 

‘Excuse me Professor.’ Severus looked up from his book to where Harry stood by his bedroom door. He hadn’t seen much of the boy since breakfast, he had kept mostly to his bedroom. 

‘Hagrid has invited me to help him down at his hut…’ Harry trailed off, leaving his question implied. ‘He said he can come and meet me at the castle.’ He added quickly, remembering Snape’s rules. 

‘That sounds fine.’ Severus nodded his permission. ‘Oh and Harry, outside of class you don’t need to call me Professor. Severus is fine.’ 

‘Ok, sure… thanks … Severus.’ Harry said slowly and awkwardly, shuffling his feet slightly where he stood. 

Severus couldn’t help but laugh, which clearly took Harry by surprise. Not many people had heard him properly laugh, especially not with genuine amusement. Harry was soon laughing with him. ‘This is so weird.’ 

‘You’ll get used to it.’ Severus assured as the two of them regained their composure. Harry nodded and gave a slight wave as he left the quarters. Severus still couldn’t get a good read on how Harry was adjusting, but so far it hadn’t been quite as bad as he had anticipated.


End file.
